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The "Mekong Serie I", a special issued serie of etchings dedicated to the making of "Love Me or Leave Me"
				• Click to enlarge Go to The Art to view more Jan Montyn artwork
After The Moonson	Vinh Long	Nong Kai	Water Babies

In an optimally paced manner, the documentary ”Love me or leave me” shows the life of Jan Montyn as a human, as a war veteran and as an artist

Through current sceneries in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and black-and-white war documentary clips, the viewer walks hand in hand with Jan Montyn while listening to Jan Montyn's explanations and enjoying Hell and Paradise on Earth. The art process and art works are blended magnificently, providing any viewer with the clarification why he or she loves Jan Montyn's art works or should love them. The documentary is shown in cinemas throughout TheNetherlands in March, 2005.

Love me or Leave me
A documentary film by Jan Louter

Synopsis

Along the Mekong River, the documentary "Love me or Leave me" makes its way through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, countries in which the Dutch etcher and painter Jan Montyn has been living and working for more than thirty years. For Montyn, there is something magical about the Mekong. He has spent long hours on its banks, and this river has confided its deepest secrets in him, taught him about life and death. The Mekong is perhaps Montyn's greatest source of inspiration, and he has captured its many faces in his prints. For Montyn, the river is a metaphor for heaven and hell. On one side, in Thailand, life was ideal; on the other, in Laos and Cambodia, a war was raging. The Mekong is aware of the horrible events in the countries through which it flows, and its color has known many variations: from transparent blue-gray and mud-yellow to blood-red. On the surface, the country and its people are reflected, as well as the stars in the firmament. On the bottom lies the sediment of history.

Born into a devoutly Protestant family, Jan Montyn fled his claustrophobic village in South Holland and voluntary joined the German Navy in 1944 to fight on the Eastern Front. After World War II, he enlisted with the foreign legion and fought in the Korean War. Later, he was involved in human relief missions in Vietnam and Cambodia. As an artist, Jan Montyn is well known all over the world. Thousands of prints have been acquired by private collectors and museums in France, Germany, the United States, Japan and the Netherlands. Montyn calls himself a reporter of images. It is a pointed description because, in contrast to the conceptual art of the last period where the idea is more important than the outcome and where the essence of art is studied. Montyn makes "autobiographical" art, not "art for art's sake," so to speak. Though they are transformed, his observations and experiences can be directly recognized in his work: his love for beauty of life and landscape. But he has also depicted the horrors of four wars

Montyn's life is an almost surreal journey between war and peace, life and death, despair and happiness. For most of each year, Montyn lives in Thailand, but never longer than a few months at a time. During the daytime, he makes studies for his etchings or he prepares medicine transports to impoverished children in Cambodia. At night he looks for amusement with the local girls who work in nearby bars. When not in Thailand, he might be working in his studio in France, where he makes his etchings. It can also be that he is on a plane, travelling. Always moving. "I always travel first class, it is the only luxury I permit myself." He travels to deliver prints, to be present at openings of exhibitions around Europe, America or Japan, or simply to meet his daughter in the Netherlands. Montyn is always on the move, but never really arrives in any given place. He is a real "loner," a wanderer who only feels at home in Thailand.

One cannot begin to grasp all that Montyn has seen in his life; an effective documentary about him must have a solid structure, a golden thread. "Montyn" uses the Mekong as a leitmotif to link past and present; the journey through the present-day landscapes blends the present and the past of Southeast Asia with the art and life of Jan Montyn. The Mekong does not only reflect fragments of Montyn's own bizarre curriculum vitae - throughout the trip, his past looms up and his conscience comes alive - but also the bloody recent history of the countries in the region.

In a more abstract sense, the film is about the influence of the past on the present; about dealing with sweeping events. This is true for Montyn, but surely also for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, countries that are still dealing with enormous traumas and political, social and economic problems, most of which result from the wars in the 1970s and 1980s. One quote from Montyn seems particularly fit to encapsulate his life and work: "With the etching needle on the hard metal, every line that is drawn is indelible. Also the wrong lines. The intractability of the metal, and that what appears is what you had thought of the other way round, the mirror image effect, that still intrigues me." What Montyn says about etching in these lines is a reflection that the film attempts to make tangible. We can never completely shake off our past; it will always continue to influence us. At the same time, "Montyn" shows that judgements about good or bad are far more complicated than they might seem upon first sight. Reality is multi-faceted - there is not just one truth - and always depends on the perspective from which you're looking.

The Making of the Movie 
By Robert van Geijn, Bangkok 2004

The year 2004 celebrates the 80 th birthday of Jan Montyn. Just ahead of the auspicious day a film about his Jan Montyn's life will be released. That is, about a part of his life. Making a film about Jan Montyn's entire life is nearly impossible, as will anyone know who has been acquainted with him.

The article below discusses the insemination, re-insemination, pre-birth and birth of the film. The article is based on interviews with Jan Montyn, Jan Louter, Manu Hartsuyker, Melle van Essen, Sander Roeleveld, Wib Nelissen and Jacques Detiger, and was complemented with further research. I thank everybody for their contributions.

The insemination

The year 2000 was a special usual year for Jan Montyn, a year that was like any other, yet would turn out to be different beyond the imagination of even an all-out experienced person like Jan Montyn himself. The year 2000 marked the end of the 20 th century and the beginning of the 21 st . While Nostradamus followers realized that the world had not come to an end and society was reflecting on Y2K, for Jan Montyn it was just another goodbye to the old and hello to the new. Jan Montyn has witnessed numerous endings and beginnings. He has seen worlds disappear, going up in flames and has seen worlds resurrect, being built on the earth we live on. Fire and earth can be seen in many of Jan Montyn's art works.

The year 2000 marked Jan Montyn's 76 th birthday. For many of us this would be extraordinary . For Jan Montyn age is of no significance. His life continues to comprise of more activities than many of us could cope with even at the age of 25, especially taking into account the types of activities. By referring to his uncle's words "Jan, little boy, please sit down and listen for you don't yet understand", Jan Montyn often expresses the wisdom that one is never too old to learn and that one learns something new every day. When his uncle spoke the wise words, he was 105 years old and "little" Jan Montyn was just 72.

The year 2000 was filled with expositions and lectures. With art work in museums in France , Germany , The USA, Thailand , Japan and The Netherlands, and hungry eyes and ears all over the world, Jan Montyn shared his drawings, paintings, prints and words with many. For Jan Montyn this was business as usual. Ever since 1964 his art works have been exhibited internationally and has he been exposed to wide interest across the globe. The year 2000 was filled with expositions and lectures in Thailand. Also this was normal for Jan Montyn. The first time he set foot in Thailand was 1951, and Thailand sort of being his home country has provided him with the corresponding level of exposure over the years. The year 2000 turned out to be different though. In the year 2000, one of Jan Montyn's main art lovers in Thailand , Henri Hemmer, had organized several expositions in his travel office in Bangkok. A collection of Jan Montyn's finest prints were displayed at Henri Hemmer's office and were viewed by many art lovers.

While one of the expositions was ongoing, Jan Montyn was invited to hold a lecture on the Dutch ladies' coffee morning at the Dutch embassy. The date was January 20 th , 2000 . As requested he had also brought along some of his prints. Together with others, the lecture was visited by Carolien Terwogt, who was just visiting Thailand together with her partner and was invited by her cousin to join the afternoon. Jan Montyn's presence, lecture and prints had such an impact on Carolien Terwogt that she chose to purchase one of his prints. Upon arrival at home she gave a summary of the afternoon to her partner, Jacques Detiger, and showed him the print. Jacques Detiger was as impressed as Carolien Terwogt and decided that he would visit Henri Hemmer's office the day next to view more of Jan Montyn's work, which he subsequently did. When he saw the series of prints it was love at second sight. Jan Montyn had a new admirer. The admiration was so deep that Jacques Detiger decided that he wanted to meet Jan Montyn in person. After finding out from Henri Hemmer how Jan Montyn could best be contacted, Jacques Detiger called Jan Montyn at home. A few weeks later Jan Montyn and Jacques Detiger had a first encounter in Amsterdam . It was mutually experienced as very pleasant and more were to follow. Jacques Detiger was truly impressed of Jan Montyn. In his words his feeling about Jan Montyn at that moment was: "Jan Montyn is a truly experienced person, has impressive stories to share, is known all over the world, knows the Dutch Royal family, has a extensive past, is a man who due to circumstances went through an enormous amount of difficulties that he had to carry along in his life that forced him to fight, and who subsequently had the time and the means of expression to complete the life cycle and to re-discover himself. He has had the opportunity that many others haven't had. In summary, he truly is someone. In line with this my feeling was that Jan Montyn did not receive the recognition that he deserved".

Jacques Detiger felt so strong about this that he decided to do something with his feeling. Via his sister Hennie, Jacques Detiger had been acquainted to Jan Louter, known for directing documentaries and films like 'A sad flower in the sand' about the writer John Fante, ' They destroyed all the roses' about the writer Jean Rhys , and ' De onverbiddelijke tijd' (In English 'The implacable time') about the artist Jan Wolkers , just to mention a few. Utterly being convinced that it would be a great story to tell, Jacques Detiger called Jan Louter with the news that he had a fantastic topic for a film. It concerned an artist with the name Henk Romijn or so, at least that was the name that Jan Louter picked up. Jan Louter did not do anything.

The re-insemination

Several months later Jacques Detiger called Jan Louter to check whether he had followed up on the previous telephone call. During the telephone conversation that followed Jacques Detiger explained in more detail that it concerned an acquaintance of him who is an artist, who is involved in medical transports and such and whose name is Jan Montyn. This time Jan Louter's attention was caught. Like many, Jan Louter had heard of Jan Montyn via the book "Montyn' of Dirk Ayelt Kooiman, which had caused quite some stir in Holland when it was released in 1982. He had not read the book before, but this time bought it straight away and read it in one day.

Jan Louter's feeling after reading the book was that it was quite a story, or better, stories, for it contained ten of them. He straight away had many feelings and ideas, but also questions like "Are the stories true or have they been made up?". He was definitely impressed though. Although being enthusiastic, Jan Louter's reaction to Jacques Detiger was that he would first check whether a documentary had already been made about Jan Montyn. He simply could not believe that a life story with so many aspects and so much drama had not been put into a documentary yet. After investigating, the surprising outcome was that this was the case though. Once Jan Louter had the firm confirmation on this, he requested Jacques Detiger to arrange a meeting with Jan Montyn, which Jacques Detiger did.

Around mid 2001 Jan Montyn and Jan Louter met in Amsterdam in Jan Montyn's home. The meeting went very well. In Jan Louter's words: "There and then the foundation was laid for what was to come. Straight away there was a level of mutual recognition. Jan Montyn did the talking. I just listened. The mutual relationship was pleasant and good". Jan Montyn added that Jan Louters listened without judging, which was very encouraging. The meeting was concluded with Jan Montyn's statement to Jan Louter that "if you really want to get to know me, you have to come to Thailand . If you do so, we will travel throughout my home country". Jan Louter accepted the offer. He had a big constraint though. In the film industry for any such trip a budget request has to be submitted and a formal approval has to be given. Fortunately this time there was no need for this. Jacques Detiger had decided to finance the trip. As a result, in August 2001 Jan Louter stepped on the airplane to Thailand for a four-week research trip. The trip was intense and revealing. For Jan Montyn it was a revisit to many pasts. To Jan Louter it provided a maximum of ideas, impressions, locations and stories to make a film. At the same time the relationship between Jan Montyn and Jan Louter was further strengthened. In Jan Louter's words, "the basis was laid for a truly personal contact between Jan Montyn and me, which has resulted in a very open atmosphere for the making of a documentary".

The pre-birth

After returning to the Netherlands , Jan Louter used the research trip outcomes to write a synopsis of the planned documentary. The synopsis was to be used to submit a research and script subsidy for the planned documentary. It took Jan Louter about four months to write it. It was worth the time and effort though, for the request was approved. After having received the go-ahead for the research and script, Jan Louter executed an extensive literature research, including that of the Mekong River . The research trip, synopsis and research results were combined and resulted in a detailed script of the film. The writing of it took about eight months and was completed around March, 2003. Asking him about the essence of the film, Jan Louter tells with passion: "The leitmotiv in the film is the influence of the past on the present. Every individual is carrying his or her past and present. You can't separate these. They are intertwined. The older you are, the more past and the less present you carry.

In case of Jan Montyn it goes without saying that he will carry with him during his entire life the fact that he was sent to the eastern front as an eighteen old boy. Whether it is traumatic or not is not the point. The point simply is that one carries it along. The film is meant to show that the past never disappears and determines actions in the present. The film will not be a psychological film, but it will show this element of life. The central theme is that the way one looks, judges and condemns is fully determined by the perspective he or she looks from. Your perspective determines whether you think of something to be right or wrong, true or untrue etc. People are easily conditioned, take a stand and subsequently perceive their opinion to be the truth. In life people can't get away from this thinking and are even looking for confirmation of 'their own truth'. The film is meant to loosen the feeling of 'your own truth', to challenge it, without judging whether something is good or bad. Everything will become one story and the fact whether it is true or untrue is not interesting anymore". Jan Louter continuous passionately: "Another facet of the project is to lift the film to a higher level than that of a personal portrait of Jan Montyn. This is done by combining Jan Montyn's life story with the recent history of South-East Asia , which is a universal story.

For the film Thailand , Laos , Vietnam and Cambodia were selected as locations for the reason that they provide the best mix of these two elements. The Mekong River functions as central element to symbolize hell and paradise. The Mekong River has seen good and bad, and has the remainders of history lying on the bottom. France was added for the reason that etching by Jan Montyn is done almost solely there. Furthermore, Oudewater in winter and autumn was added to accentuate the contrast with South-East Asia and to visualize the Calvinistic upbringing of Jan Montyn". Without a sign of tiredness (it was 2am by this time), Jan Louter talks further: "The film is meant to bring an overall feeling, or better a smell. The elements in the film will not necessarily be presented chronological. It is more meant as showing brain waves, like now the Mekong , then Vietnam , then World War II, then thoughts of youth etc.

To do so, extensive archive material will be incorporated into pictures. The idea behind the actual making was to incorporate as many aspects of Jan Montyn's life as possible, including those that would not be easy to film, like the nightlife in which Jan Montyn has freely moved during most of his life, and is still moving in, and that on his age!" The length of the film will be at least seventy-five minutes with a maximum length of ninety minutes. At the end of the day this will be determined by the funding and the clients. Possible clients will be small cinemas, film festivals in e.g. Netherlands and Thailand , to whom the documentary will be offered. Also television could be an option. Typically television works with fixed structured blocks of 52 minutes each. The film is planned to be released in the fourth quarter of 2004 with hopefully a premier at the Thailand Film Festival". Jan Louter clearly had done his homework. The remaining step was to compose the film crew, which according to Jan Louter went rather naturally. Jan Louter had already worked with Melle van Essen, who is one of the best camera men in The Netherlands. Melle van Essen has a special interest in war and the fringes of life, so was also in that sense the right candidate.

The two of them were about to shoot a film in Papua New Guinea , but the permission for filming was not obtained. Melle van Essen and Manu Hartsuyker, movie producer, have known each other for a long time. Both of them have been around the world several times, seeing things that are not easy to be seen. Sander Roeleveld, assistant camera man, assisted Melle van Essen during the shooting of his previous film. The film was about the artist Klaas Gubbels ( Editor: Klaas Gubbels, stilleven van een schilder. In English: Klaas Gubbels, still life of a painter ). Also Wib Nelissen, sound man, was an old acquaintance. Besides this core team in each country a local support team was contracted, which completed the film crew. Although the setting looked perfect, the truth was that not everybody was really looking forward to travel and work together for six to seven weeks consecutively. Also Jan Montyn had voiced his worries about the length of the project. Furthermore, a key challenge would be to get permissions to do shootings at the several locations.

The birth

The actual shooting of the film started in Pattaya in November 2003. The main locations in Pattaya were Jan Montyn's house, the Marine Bar in Walking Street , the bar/restaurant Hoek van Holland in Jomtien and Pieter Hoovers' house. Pattaya was followed by Bangkok where shootings were done in the outside bar Pharaohs in Soi Nana, the food stall in Soi 7 and the After Skool Bar in Soi Cowboy. In Pattaya and Bangkok the main focus was on the night life. Mid November the film crew left for the North of Thailand. In Nongkhai and around the Mekong River the focus was on the war and the work Jan Montyn had done during those times. One of the highlights was an interview with an eighty-eight year old lady about the old days and the war.

In Vientiane, Laos, Jan Montyn's work for Amnesty International was the main topic of attention. In Aranyanaprethet, the border of Cambodia , the focus was on border activities, the local hotel and the landscape. Via a stop-over in Bangkok , the crew left for Phnom Phen in Cambodia . The highlight was a tour on the Mekong River , which in Jan Montyn's words "was truly fascinating. The main topic we talked about was their and our behaviour during the war". Cambodia was followed with Vietnam . In Ho Chi Minh the Rex Hotel is known for being an officer's hotel which was heavily bombed. For Jan Montyn and Jan Louter it was a familiar location for they visited it during their research tr ip. After Ho Chi Minh the film crew drove to the So uth of Saigon where the Mekong Delta is situated. Filming was started in Cuchi, which is an area near the Cambodian border, known for having an underground city with numerous of tunnels. During the war these tunnels were bombed heavily, often while children used them as safe haven against the bombings outside. If a tunnel was hit by a bomb the oxygen was sucked out of the tunnel, which would implode the lungs of anyone in the tunnel. High explosive bombs would turn the tunnel into a graveyard straight away.

Similar as was done in Cambodia , the film crew spent several days on the Mekong River , this time on handmade boats. According to Jan Montyn also these shootings were very beautiful. Throughout the shootings Jan Louter interviewed Jan Montyn. Jan Montyn describes the interviews as "It was like Black Gammon. Topic after topic was brought up at any moment, as dictated by Jan Louter. He was very surprising in his questions. I felt like a virgin, curious what would happen next. I did have the right to say "no", but I didn't do that except for one or two times in which I chose to not elaborate on a certain topic". After finishing the shootings in Vietnam the team returned to Bangkok .

A few more shots were added in Pattaya after which the film crew flew back to The Netherlands. The final shootings for the film were done in April 2004 in the Provence in France, which in Jan Montyn's words "provides a pre-historical scenery similar to Vietnam ". The setting for the shooting was Jan Montyn's private studio where he made a series of four prints of the Mekong River, in tribute to the film. The entire process of making the prints was filmed, including the explosion of hydrochloric acid once it is brought upon the metal plate for five to ten seconds. The entire filming, including that in The Netherlands, produced about twenty-eight hours of material for the film.

The editing of the film will be done in a studio in Amsterdam. The planned release is around November 2004. As mentioned above, there were two challenges to conquer to make the film a success. One was the inspiration of the crew members. The other was the getting of permissions for the shootings. Permissions were successfully acquired through a good cooperation of all involved in combination with Jan Montyn's contacts. And although during the filming some discussions did take place, like during any filming, everybody truly enjoyed the entire trip. This was expressed through words like "fan-ta-tastic", "magnificent", "exciting. Just great!" and "impressive", as voiced by the film crew on their way home. Also Jan Montyn was surprised himself that he even liked it. A special feedback given by Manu Hartsuyker was that seeing the diversity of different Asian countries was truly an eye opener. On the question to the crew what name they would give to the film, titles were mentioned like "My Old Friend" and "A Tough Chap". Jan Louter added that the working title of the film is "Beyond the Lotus". The title was derived from a moment during the research trip. Jan Montyn and he were having a drink in a bar in Ubon. A lady was present of such beauty and youthful innocence, that Jan Montyn spontaneously voiced out the words: "This is beyond the lotus". The working title also refers to the mysterious side of Asia , which is depicted in the sentence: "On dirt and soil the most beautiful flower in the world flourishes".

Jan Louter ended the interview with a "thank you" to Jan Montyn for his openness, for not holding back and for giving everything during the making of the film. In Jan Louter's words: "For this I have great respect".